'It's going to be a big Irish wedding in France!'

Pop and politics, it has to be said, are an unusual combination as far as relationships go, but in the case of Westlife's Nicky Byrne and Irish premier's daughter Georgina, it's the ultimate coalition.
For a couple who first met at school 11 years ago and started dating at 16, it has taken a while for Nicky to finally pop the question. But the two are now busy planning a lavish wedding for this summer, with the location a closely guarded secret - until today.
"This is going to come as a bit of a shock to everyone, but it's not going to take place in Ireland," announces Nicky, with a broad smile. "It's been hard keeping it quite, but we've decided to get married in France this August," add the talented 24-year-old who, together with Shane, Bryan, Kian and Mark, makes up the Irish boy band Westlife.
Despite it taking him eight years to get down on bended knee, there was never any doubt of Georgina - whose father is Bertie Ahern - and Nicky's future together. In fact, on the very first day he set eyes on Georgina in the classroom, Nicky declared to his mother that he'd met the girl he would marry.
A self-confessed perfectionist, as well as a romantic, Nicky wanted to make sure the timing was right before asking her father Bertie's permission to marry his eldest daughter.
"I just needed to know that it was the right moment in our lives," says Nicky, whose phenomenal band has notched up 11 No 1 singles and sold 30 million records worldwide in just four-and-a-half years.
While closeness to his family keeps Nicky firmly down to earth, the Westlife star remains constantly in awe of his financée's ability to cope with his fame. "Georgina has been my rock," he says, "Always standing by me through thick and thin, and always backing up any mad ideas I've ever come up with."
It was Georgina who helped pick up the pieces when Nicky's career as a would-be professional footballer at Leeds came to a premature halt six years ago. It was a shattering blow to the 18-year-old when he was told that, at 5ft 19, he was too small to be a success as a goalie, and he returned to Ireland, with the idea of joining the Irish police force.
While waiting for a sign-up date, Nicky bought himself a karaoke machine and began taking part in local competitions, as well as singing in his father's cabaret band. But it was Georgina who suggested he went for an audition for Westlife, saying, "You know you can do it". And he did, beating some 500 other hopefuls to form the phenomenally successful boy band. Indeed, only last month they were voted Best International Group at the Capital FM Awards in London.
Now, as Westlife's gruelling 62-day Greatest Hits tour begins, the couple talked excitedly of their preparations for an early-August wedding as they relaxed in the Belle Etoile suite at the opulent Hotel Meurice in Paris.

You've always been proud of your Irish roots, so why have you decided on France for your wedding?
Nicky: "I know it's a bit of a shock to everyone, but it's a country we've always liked and a language we love, although neither of us is very good at speaking it!
"The first time we ever went there was for the World Cup final. We were there with Georgina's dad who had just become prime minister; the band had only just started and there we were staying at the Irish Embassy and getting to go to the final. It was amazing. That was our first introduction to the country, and we've been visiting ever since."
Georgina: "I think our families quite like the idea now, as we're all going out there a few days beforehand to make a real holiday of it."

What have you got in mind for the big day: a family affair with a few close friends?
G: "Oh no. It's going to be a big Irish wedding - in France - and it's getting bigger by the day. Right now we've about 380 guests, but I know the numbers are sure to increase. I'm having five bridesmaids: my sister Cecelia as my maid of honour, Nicky's sister Gillian and three good friends."
N: "The fact it's not in Irealnd doesn't mean it's not going to be Irish. We want to mix the themes - we'll have Irish singers and harpists but some French music as well and hopefully my dad's cabaret band. Irish stout will be on tap along with French wine and cocktails! We want to treat everyone to seomthing really special, a few days away with glorious weather anda great celebration."

Georgina, have you decided who's going to design your wedding dress?
G: "I went to London with Mum to try out different styles and get ideas - choosing the dress is one of the most exciting parts! But I've set my heart on Irish designer Synan O'Mahony creating it. Actually, he's going to design two dresses, as I want a different one for the evening."

Having gone out with Georgina for eight years, what took you so long to propose?
N:" "To be honest, I needed to know that the time was right for both of us. Three years ago we bought a house just outside Dublin, not knowing how long the band would last or how successful it would become. We settled in, but both of us knew it wasn't really where we wanted to stay for the rest of our lives. Realistically, we knew we wanted to move back to Malahide, where Georgina grew up.
"Then, just before Christmas, we splashed out on this beautiful three-storey, five-bedroom Georgian house there which is everything we'd ever dreamed of.
"It was funny because I'd been presenting a Christmas show on Belfast radio with Shane the day before and we'd started talking about weddings. He asked me: 'When are you thinking about getting married?', but I avoided the question. I knew nothing of his plans and he knew nothing of mine. But we both ended up getting engaged on the same day - Christmas Day."

Had you been planning your moment for some time?
N: "Yes. I'd been scheming for months, and all that remained on Christmas Eve was to ask her parents' permission. I wanted to do things the traditional way and ask her mum, Miriam, first, since my dad had done it that way, but she thought I was joking because for years, everyone had expected it to happen and they'd always been disappointed!
"I knew I was cutting it a bit fine, asking their permission the day before, but I'd been away working for months.
"That evening we went for a drink in her dad's local. I was trying to get him aside as I didn't want Georgina to hear what I was up to. I said: 'Bertie, I've got a plan to ask Georgina to marry me and I wanted your permission. He smiled and said: 'Yes, absolutely, definitely.' There was a kind of pause, then he asked, 'Well, when are you planning to do it?'. "Tomorrow', I said. 'Well, that's brilliant,' he replied. 'I wish you the best of luck.'"

So how well do Nicky and your father go on, Georgina?
G: "They get on great. Dad is a big fan of Westlife and they both support Manchester United! On Sunday evenings we always go out for a drink with Dad, having spent the day with Nicky's family at his grandmother's house."

How surprised were you when Nicky's proposal finally came?
G: "It was a shock on the day! We had always talked about it, but I certainly wasn't expecting it when it happened. It was Christmas morning and he told me to sit on the couch and close my eyes while he went to get the present. Then without any warning he dropped this Labrador puppy onto my lap, which gave me the fright of my life!
"I mean, the last thing I was expecting was to get a dog from Nicky! I'm afraid of dogs and he's always know that.
"While I was recovering from the shock he said, 'Okay, we have the house, we have our dog, but there's still something that's not quite complete,' and with that he did the whole romantic thing and got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. It was the happiest moment of my life. I'd always hopped he wouldn't do it in front of a whole lot of friends, so for me it was just perfect."
N: "I don't know which shocked her most, the puppy - who we've called Keano after my hero, Roy Keane - or the proposal!"

Had you already bought the engagement ring?
N: "I'd actually bought it four months earlier and hadn't told anyone except my little brother Adam, who's 13 and who I plan to have as my best man. I gave him the ring and told him to look after it and not tell a soul."
G: "It was amazing, he never said a word to anyone!"
N: "He did it in his bedroom - in the top of his wardrobe under a pile of socks with a hat on top! How he kept it a secret from my mam, I'll never know. She's a cleanaholic, the type who tries to scrub the flowers off the plates, so I don't know how she didn't find it. He did well.
"The only other person I told was my grandad. He had become very ill and as time went by I knew he probably wouldn't make it to Christmas. We're a very close family, so I had a quiet moment with him and told him. He died in the autumn and, as my nanna said, it was a secret he took to the grave because he never told a soul."

How did you know Georgina would approve of the ring?
N: "Before the band even started, we were walking through Dublin and looking in jewellery shop windows. We picked out a ring with a perfect single stone, a beautiful pear-shaped diamond, and I said to her: 'Whenever I earn some money, that'll be the ring I buy for you.'"
G: "And he never forgot."

Only two years ago you were saying that Westlife was your life. When did your priorities change?
N: "Georgina is obviously my life. I don't think I even have to say it. We've grown up and matured together and, in a way, she's given me the confidence to go out and do things with my life. What I probably meant to say was that Westlife is our life. It's what I've always wanted to and Georgina has been amazing, helping me do it. She's never stood in my way, and has backed me up on everything - I wouldn't be where I am without her support."

How important is marriage to both of you?
G: "Very important. I suppose since I've been going out with Nicky I've always dreamt of getting married to him. We'd always talked about it, it was just a matter of when."
N: "Marriage is a natural step for us. There's never been anyone else in my life but Georgina."

How similar are you, characterwise?
G: "I suppose we're very different really, but we agree on all the important things in life which is all that matters."
N: "I think it's a classic case of the more refined, quiet girl with the mad, outspoken guy. But when it comes down to just the two of us in a room on our own, then that's just perfect. And that's excatly how we always wanted it to be. We share the same opinions on family values, friends, taste in houses, clothes and everything else that's important in life."

Is it hard coping with the fans' overpowering attentions, Georgina?
G: "I've always got used to it, because at the end of the day, I know it's just a job. But in the beginning, when I wasn't able to travel with the band, it was hard. It was all new and very different from the life we'd been leading. Now I'm so used to it, it really doesn't bother me."
N: "I have to say I really admire Georgina for putting up with it all, because if the shoe were on the other foot and I was seeing her with all these guys screaming around her, I can't imagine what I'd be like. I'd be saying, 'Get your hand off her!'"

Trust must play an enormous part in your realtionship then?
N: "It does. But it just comes naturally. We take each other's trust for granted. It's there and that's all there is to it, we don't have to even think about it."

So just how much fans has fame altered the Nicky you first met and fell in love with?
G: "He hasn't changed at all - and I should know. To me he's just the same as he always was, really out-going and fun and always making me laugh. He's also very romantic and treats me to surprises all the time. Life is great with Nicky, nothing is ever predictable - sometimes he flies home while on tour to surprise me."

How great are the pressures, both mentally and physically, when you're playing?
N: "It can be exhausting. I've actually noticed in the last year or two that you really do value your time off the older you get. I remember when I was 19 we used to go out and do shows, then stay in the bar till 6am and catch a plan at 7am. Now if I go to bed at four in the morning I'm dead. I can't do it!"

Do you ever take a step back and look at all your achievements?
N: "When you're living this life, you don't really realise what's going on. We've never allowed ourselves to live off our previous successes though, we just aim to keep a step ahead of everyone else. We haven't let any of the other bands overtake us, because we've always looked over our shoulder and been ready to put our foot on the accelerator."

And how do you fell about those who are always predicting the band's demise?
N: "People can think what they want, they always will. We, as a band, are very close, we get on very well. We've always been very honest with each other and have no hidden agendas.
"Also, unlike other bands before us, we've managed to cross over into a different, more nature type of audience and when you cross that boundary you sort of guarantee yourself longevity."

Just how well do all the band get on as friends?
N: "The five of us get on even better when we're not working! When we've finished rehearsing at the end of the day you'll find us out on the golf course or in a restaurant - that's the bond we have. I fully believe that when it all does, unfortunately, come to an end, we'll finish on a good note. I know we'll stay together as friends, we're such good mates, and we'll always be welcome in each other's homes.
"As for work, I certainly wouldn't sit back and do nothing. If it all ended tomorrow, I think Georgina and I would go to the States for a while and I'd try my hand at acting. I'd love to do that!"

Do you have any plans to use your business degree, Georgina, and return to work?
G: "I do need to get my career back on the road and would really like to have my own business. I haven't got anything set up yet, but I'm in the early stages of planning something. Although it's great to be free and flexible right now, and be able to travel with Nicky whenever I want, in the long term I need something to work on."

Are you planning to start a family in the near future?
G: "Having a stable family home with children is really important to us. We both can't wait to have children - Nicky wants five, but I'd be happy with three. Nicky will make a brilliant dad, I know, he loves kids. But we're not planning anything just yet. There are still plenty of things we both want to do in life, but when the day eventually comes, we'll both be over the moon with excitement."
N: "I can't imagine what it will be like having an 18-year-old daughter! I'd be beside myself with worry every time she went out to a nightclub - I'd be waiting up all night!"

Having been together for eight years, how appreciative are you of one another?
"Very. I'm blessed with someone who knows me so well and loves me so much. And what we're experiencing now is a far cry from the days when I returned from Leeds and Georgina used to pay for my Chinese takeaways out of her pocket money.
"We've grown up together and love each other - and I've always known that she's my number one and I'm hers, no matter what."

Interview: Mary Corbett
Photos: Alexi De Castillano

Thanx to Franzi ;)
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